RNC Spokesman: IRS Email Claims Are 'Outrageous'

Claims by the Internal Revenue Service that a computer crash is to blame for two years' worth of lost emails sent and received by former IRS official Lois Lerner are "fishy," says Republican National Committee spokesman Raffi Williams.

"We all know, we deal with emails every day, if my computer crashes I'm still getting emails to my phone, so they're still all accessible, and they have this back-up company that supposedly allows you to click and reach it but for some reason it's unsolved."

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The agency has said that Lerner's computer crashed in June 2011 and that the machine was destroyed after technical experts could not retrieve any data. Lerner headed the IRS division in charge of reviewing applications from organizations requesting tax-exempt status. The IRS has acknowledged that tea party-affiliated groups received extra scrutiny and many applications were purposely stymied until after the election.

House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa was informed that Lerner's computer had been recycled a day after issuing a subpoena for the machine.

Williams said on "America's Forum" that as Republicans did in Watergate, Democrats need to put partisan politics aside and demand answers from the IRS.

"You would hope that the walls would crumble here, that they would understand the significance of this error that the IRS has made and they would understand the significance of finding out the information," Williams said.

It's unacceptable, says Williams, for the IRS to demand that U.S. taxpayers be required to save their information for seven years while the agency can't even maintain their records for three.

He said he has no faith that Attorney General Eric Holder will appoint a special prosecutor or hold anyone in the administration accountable, saying it's the fox guarding the hen house.